Category Archives: Forerunners (33-1226)

Ephrem the Syrian — June 10

Asia, Forerunners (33-1226),
Mosaic in Nea Moni of Chios (11th century)

Bible connection

How sweet are your words to my taste,
    sweeter than honey to my mouth!
Through your precepts I get understanding;
    therefore I hate every false way.
Your word is a lamp to my feet
    and a light to my path. — Psalm 119:103-105

All about Ephrem the Syrian (c. 306-373)

Ephrem (later differentiated by “the Syrian”) was born to poor farmers in Nisibis (now in south-central Turkey). Later hagiographers filled in what was not recorded about his youth. They said his Christian parents raised him for piety, but from childhood he was known for his quick temper and impetuous character. He often had fights, acted thoughtlessly, and doubted God. Once, he was unjustly accused of stealing a sheep and was thrown into prison. He heard a voice in a dream calling him to repent and correct his life. After this, he was acquitted of the charges and set free.

Not much later, the young Ephrem ran off to the mountains to learn from the hermits. Some dispute that he ever actually became a monk. Ascetic Christian discipleship was introduced to his area by a disciple of Anthony (the Great), the Egyptian desert dweller. He became the disciple of James of Nisibis, a noted ascetic, preacher of Christianity and denouncer of Arians. Under his direction Ephrem was trained in monastic virtues. Soon his talents were recognized and he was assigned to preach sermons and teach children. James took Ephrem with him to the First Ecumenical Council at Nicaea in 325. Ephrem led the church in Nisbis with James for fourteen years, until the bishop’s death in 338.

Ephrem lived during a time of enormous political and religious upheaval. Traditional beliefs and values were under attack from every side. Society was coming apart at the seams, and the leaders did not seem to care. All that mattered was winning the latest high-profile, public debate.  Ephrem did not mince words: “God’s flock is starving; it has been left to graze on fields of words.” Religion and politics had become hopelessly entangled, and the result was toxic.

The church was torn between two rival factions. On one side, a new breed of Christian philosophers reduced God to a concept—“an idea.” On the other, the rigidly pious spiritualized God — kept him safely in heaven, far from the nastiness of everyday life. As Ephrem saw it, the remedy for both groups was the same—“a return to the simple words of the Apostles.” For him, God was not a monarch ruling from a distant throne; He was a person revealed in his Son. “Jesus is the Bridge,” Ephrem taught, “who leads us back to the source of our life.”

Ephrem was a poet and a teacher who  taught like no one else. Educated people of his day wrote and spoke Greek; they went to school in places like Antioch and Athens. Ephrem wrote exclusively in Syriac and never left his native land. In place of human credentials, he prayed to be filled with the Spirit of God.

People who heard Ephrem speak nick-named him the “Harp of the Holy Spirit.” Today he is best remembered as a composer of hymns, over four hundred are still known. The lyrics of his songs helped to defend the faith against false doctrine, teach about various aspects of Christian belief, and express worship. His glorious “Hymn to the Light” is an example, with its words of hope in the coming kingdom (see below).

Ephrem combined contemplation with a ceaseless study of the various documents soon to become the New Testament, as well as the Tanakh. He described opening the Bible as a homecoming: “The words ran out to meet me. They flung their arms around me, took me by the hand, and led me in.” People began to come to him for counsel. He eventually wrote the first Syriac commentary on the Pentateuch (i.e. “Five Books”) of Moses. His works were read publicly in certain churches after the Holy Scripture, as Saint Jerome tells us.

After the capture of Nisibis by the Sassanid Persians in 363, Ephrem went to a monastery near the city of Edessa (now Urfa in Turkey). There he met many ascetics, some living alone in caves. He became especially close Julian, who was of one mind with him.

Near the end of his life Ephrem went to Egypt to see the work of prayer among the first monks. On his return journey he visited at Caesarea in Cappadocia with Basil (the Great), who wanted to ordain him a priest, but he considered himself unworthy. At the insistence of Basil, he consented only to be ordained as a deacon, in which rank he remained until his death. Later, Basil invited Ephrem to become a bishop, but he feigned madness in order to avoid the assignment.

After his return to his own Edessa wilderness, Ephrem hoped to spend the rest of his life in solitude, but the inhabitants of Edessa were suffering from a devastating famine. He persuaded the wealthy to aid those in need. He raised funds from the church to build a house for the poor and sick. He died serving others; in 373, having caught the plague while ministering to the sick.

Quotes

  • If the Son of God is within you, then His Kingdom is also within you. Thus, the Kingdom of God is within you, a sinner. Enter into yourself, search diligently and without toil you shall find it. Outside of you is death, and the door to it is sin. Enter into yourself, dwell within your heart, for God is there.
  • Our Lord spoke gently to teach his followers the power of gentle words.
  • Jesus is  the Medicine of Life.
  • We wear ourselves out hording power and working for personal advancement. It only adds to our insecurity and makes us unhappy. The Lord taught us in the Gospel that creation has blessings enough for everyone. He said, ‘Look at the birds of the air and the lilies of the field.” When will we look?
  • The things our Lord wants to teach us are simple, but they’re hard…. This should tell us how well our Lord knew human nature.

More

Harp of the Holy Spirit: The Life of Saint Ephrem the Syrian by Trisagion Films:

Hymn to the Light

The Light of the just and joy of the upright is Christ Jesus our Lord.
Begotten of the Father, He manifested himself to us.
He came to rescue us from darkness and to fill us with the radiance of His light.
Day is dawning upon us; the power of darkness is fading away.

From the true Light there arises for us the light which illumines our darkened eyes.
His glory shines upon the world and enlightens the very depths of the abyss.
Death is annihilated, night has vanished, and the gates of Sheol are broken.
Creatures lying in darkness from ancient times are clothed in light.
The dead arise from the dust and sing because they have a Savior.
He brings salvation and grants us life. He ascends to his Father on high.
He will return in glorious splendor and shed His light on those gazing upon Him.

Our King comes in majestic glory.

Let us light our lamps and go forth to meet Him.
Let us find our joy in Him, for He has found joy in us.
He will indeed rejoice us with His marvelous light.

Let us glorify the majesty of the Son and give thanks to the almighty Father
Who, in an outpouring of love, sent Him to us, to fill us with hope and salvation.
When He manifests Himself, the saints awaiting Him in weariness and sorrow,
will go forth to meet Him with lighted lamps.

The angels and guardians of heaven will rejoice
in the glory of the just and upright people of earth;
Together crowned with victory,
they will sing hymns and psalms.

Stand up then and be ready!
Give thanks to our King and Savior,
Who will come in great glory to gladden us
with His marvelous light in His kingdom.

Put to music in Arabic:

Hymn of Repentance by St Ephrem the Syrian (in Aramaic) [Link]

A Song of Ephrem the Syrian — Church of England Hymnal. Common Worship: Daily Prayer:

1    Behold: Fire and Spirit in the womb that bore you:  ♦
Behold: Fire and Spirit in the river where you were baptized.
2    Fire and Spirit in our baptism:  ♦
In the Bread and the Cup, Fire and Holy Spirit.
3    In your Bread is hidden a Spirit not to be eaten,  ♦
In your Wine dwells a Fire not to be drunk.
4    Spirit in your Bread, Fire in your Wine,  ♦
A wonder set apart, yet received by our lips.
5    How wonderful your footsteps, walking on the waters!  ♦
You subdued the great sea beneath your feet.
6    Yet to a little stream you subjected your head,  ♦
Bending down to be baptized in it.
7    The stream was like John who performed the baptism in it,  ♦
In their smallness each an image of the other.
8    To the stream so little, to the servant so weak,  ♦
The Lord of them both subjected himself.

Ephrem the Syrian, Nineteen Hymns on the Nativity of Christ in the Flesh  from the Catholic Library

Ephrem’s Day is celebrated on several dates. We chose to go with the U.S. Episcopalians.

What do we do with this?

Many Eastern Christians (and those of us who have been influenced by their traditions) recite the Prayer of St. Ephrem multiple times each day of Lent. There are three verses, each of which is accompanied by the Sign of the Cross and a prostration, in which the person praying kneels down on both knees and touches his or her head to the floor.

The Prayer of St. Ephrem is a prayer of petition, asking God to curb the desires of our soul that prevent us from humbling ourself before him. During Holy Week especially, as our spiritual enemies try to divide us from one another when we should all be walking together on the Way of the Cross, this prayer is a powerful reminder that true humility is something that we cannot gain on our own. We must ask God to grant it to us as a gift.

This is one of many translations of the Prayer of St. Ephrem the Syrian:

O Lord and Master of my life, Keep from me the spirit of indifference and discouragement, Lust of power and idle chatter. [Sign of the Cross/prostration]

Instead, grant me the spirit of wholeness of being, Humblemindedness, patience, and love. [Sign of the Cross/prostration]

O Lord and King, Grant me the grace to be aware of my sins and not to judge my brother or sister, For you are blessed always, now and ever, and forever. Amen.” [Sign of the Cross/prostration]

Columba — June 9

Europe, Forerunners (33-1226)

Bible connection

Praise the Lord from the earth,
    you great sea creatures and all ocean depths,
lightning and hail, snow and clouds,
    stormy winds that do his bidding,
you mountains and all hills,
    fruit trees and all cedars,
wild animals and all cattle,
    small creatures and flying birds,
kings of the earth and all nations,
    you princes and all rulers on earth,
young men and women,
    old men and children.

Let them praise the name of the Lord,
    for his name alone is exalted;
    his splendor is above the earth and the heavens. — Psalm 148:7-13

All about Columba (521-597)

Columba (also Colmcille) still appeals to our imaginations almost fifteen hundred years after his death. He is credited with bringing Christianity to Scotland. He was not only a great leader, he had a big imagination that resulted in an outbreak of Celtic art we still admire. He also had a big voice and might have sang his own version of today’s psalm, since the Celtic church had a deep respect of God’s presence in creation and Columba, no doubt, met the Lord on his many daring sea voyages and missionary journeys.

He was born in Ireland, on December 7, 521 A.D. to Fedhlimidh and Eithne in Donegal (Northern Ireland). He was of “royal blood,” and might have become High King of Ireland had he not devoted his life to the church.

As a young man, Columba joined the monastery at Moville, and was ordained a deacon by the famous and influential Finnian. After studying with a bard called Gemman, Columba was ordained a priest, and then became bishop in Clonfad. Columba entered the monastery of Mobhi Clarainech and trained with the others who became “the twelve apostles of Ireland.” When disease forced the disbanding of that monastery, Columba went north and founded the church of Derry.

Tradition has it that after founding several other monasteries, Columba copied Finnian’s psalter (or was it a precious copy of the Latin Vulgate? — 6th century history was not fastidiously collected). He did this without the permission of Finnian, and thus devalued the book and broke with common decency. When Finnian took the matter to High King Dermott for judgment, Dermott judged in favor of Finnian, stating “to every cow its calf; to every book its copy” (the first copyright law!). Columba refused to hand over the copy, claiming that his converts deserved the scripture. King Dermott forced the issue militarily. Columba’s family and clan defeated Dermott at the battle of Cooldrevny in 561.

Tradition further holds that Molaisi of Devenish, Columba’s spiritual father, ordered Columba to bring the same number of souls to Christ that he had caused to die as penance.

For his theft and the deaths it caused, a penitent Columba exiled himself from Ireland. He settled at the first place where his homeland could no longer be seen across the sea. With twelve companions he started a new life, founding a monastery on the island of Iona in the year 563. They lived as Celtic monks in a community of separate cells. But Columba and his companions combined their contemplative life with extraordinary missionary activity.

Among his many accomplishments, Columba was a splendid sailor. He sailed among the islands of Scotland and traveled deep inland, making converts and founding churches. In Ireland, it is said, he had already founded a hundred churches. In Scotland he is credited with converting the Picts, including a journey to witness to the King during which he thwarted the Loch Ness monster (see more below).

Columba and the Loch Ness monster, found in British Library

Of all the Celtic saints in Scotland, Columba’s life is the best documented, because manuscripts of the Life of Columba, written by Adamnan, one of his early successors as abbot of Iona, have survived.

Columba was a poet as well as a man of action. Some of his poems in both Latin and Gaelic have come down to us, and they reveal him to be very sensitive to the beauty of his surroundings, as well as, in Adamnan’s phrase, “gladdened in his inmost heart by the joy of the Holy Spirit.”

He died on June 9 in the year 597.

More

Rod’s Columba the Creative Sufferer [link]

Dramatic video about Columba on Iona [link]

Columba (and others) and the Book of Kells [Part 1 link] [Part 2 link]

What do we do with this?

Columba might have been king if he had not been serious about Jesus. He might have been a powerful church man in Ireland if he hadn’t put himself on the wrong side of the law and started a war!

Maybe you wish you had never followed Jesus. Maybe you wish you had not done the wrong things you did. Maybe Jesus can use you anyway, starting on whatever little island you find yourself today, despite the desires and enemies that threaten to dominate your life. Consider what would happen if your future were in God’s hands (since it is).

Eusebius — May 30

Asia, Forerunners (33-1226)
6th century Syriac portrait of St. Eusebius of Caesarea from the Rabbula Gospels

Bible connection

The Rock, his work is perfect,
and all his ways are just.
A faithful God, without deceit,
just and upright is he;
yet his degenerate children have dealt falsely with him,
a perverse and crooked generation.
Do you thus repay the Lord,
O foolish and senseless people?
Is not he your father who created you,
who made you and established you?
Remember the days of old;
consider the years long past;
ask your father, and he will inform you,
your elders, and they will tell you. — Deuteronomy 32:4-7

I do not want you to be ignorant, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ. Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them, and they were struck down in the wilderness.

Now these things occurred as examples for us, so that we might not desire evil as they did. Do not become idolaters as some of them did, as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and they rose up to play.” — 1 Corinthians 10:1-6

All about Eusebius of Caesarea (c. 260/265-339)

No collection of the great figures in the history of the church would be complete without including the premier historian of the church, Eusebius of Caesarea. He lived during a very formative period for the Church and his writings reflect every aspect of it. There was once a biography of Eusebius, written by his successor as Caesarea’s bishop, but like so many of his own writings, it is lost. So we know nothing for certain about his early life. He was probably born in Palestine, certainly baptized at Caesarea and ordained a presbyter (elder) there under his teacher and friend, Pamphilus — so closely did he follow this Origen devotee that he called himself Eusebius Pamphili (son of Pamphilus) after he died.

In 303 the co-emperors Diocletian and Galerius ordered the “great persecution,” and Pamphilus was martyred within seven years. Eusebius too, was imprisoned but managed to avoid his mentor’s fate. The persecutions turned the historian’s attention to the martyrs of his own time and the past. He writes:

“We saw with our own eyes the houses of prayer thrown down to the very foundations, and the divine and sacred Scriptures committed to the flames in the market-places, and the shepherds of the churches basely hidden here and there, and some of them captured ignominiously, and mocked by their enemies” (Church History 8.2.1).

Collecting those personal histories led him to the history of the whole Church and finally to the history of the world, which, to him, was only a preparation for Church history.

Imagine writing a comprehensive history of the Church’s last three centuries — that means you start in 1725. Now imagine no one has ever written such a history before, so there’s no single collection of key documents, no books profiling key figures, no chronology of major events, no Google, not even a fixed system of dating the past. When Eusebius undertook such an effort, he felt trepidation. In his introduction to the The Church History  (or Ecclesiastical History) [Internet Archive] he writes:

“I feel inadequate to do it justice as the first to venture on such an undertaking, a traveler on a lonely and untrodden path. But I pray that God may guide me and the power of the Lord assist me, for I have not found even the footprints of any predecessors on this path, only traces in which some have left various accounts of the times in which they lived.”

Around 313, about the time of Constantine’s Edict of Milan, Eusebius became bishop of the Palestinian city of Caesarea. There he continued work on his church history, which he began during the persecutions. He also wrote a 15-volume refutation of paganism called Preparation, and Demonstration of the Gospel [Internet Archive], demonstrating Christ’s fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. He also completed his Chronicle of world history.

Just as Eusebius was writing about Christianity’s defeat of paganism, one the greatest threats to the Church was developing within it. Arius, a presbyter from Libya, was gaining followers around the empire, teaching, “There was a time when the Son was not.” Egyptian bishop Alexander and his chief deacon, Athanasius, fumed at the teaching. The argument spread throughout the empire, promising to rip the church in two. Constantine, God’s chosen instrument, as Eusebius saw him, called the Council of Nicaea to close the fissure.

Since his earliest days with Pamphilus, Eusebius had been enthralled with the teachings of Origen, who has been criticized for 1,800 years for believing the Trinity is a hierarchy, not an equality. This led Eusebius to be less concerned with Arius’ heresy than the threat of disunity in the Church. When Arius was censured, Eusebius, who thought the entire debate brought Christianity the “most shameful ridicule,” was among the first to ask he be reinstated.

At the Council of Nicaea, Eusebius (whose name means “faithful”) attempted to mediate between the Arians and the orthodox. But when the council was over and Arius was anathematized, Eusebius was reluctant to agree with its decision. He eventually signed the document the council produced, saying, “Peace is the object which we set before us.” But a few years later, when the tables flipped and Arianism became popular, Eusebius criticized Athanasius, hero of the council. He even sat on the council that deposed him. Eusebius wasn’t himself an Arian—he rejected the idea that “there was a time when the Son was not” and that Christ was created out of nothing. He simply opposed anti-Arianism.

As the Arian controversy continued to rage, Eusebius stayed in Caesarea, declining a promotion to become bishop of Antioch, and wrote. Among his most famous writings of this final period was another history: a praise-filled Life of Constantine, his adored political leader.

Eusebius wrote many other things, including an important treatise on the location of biblical place names and the distances between them. He also created a system to  number passages of the Gospels and made a table so readers could find the parallels between Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. This numbering exists in almost all the Greek manuscripts we have. It became a central idea behind how people read the Bible.

Holy History

His famous Church History shares a missionary purpose with Eusebius’s more explicitly apologetic writings. The opening words state his six interests:

  • It is my purpose to write an account of the successions of the holy apostles;. …
  • to relate the many important events that are said to have occurred in the history of the church;
  • to mention those who have governed and presided over the church in the most prominent parishes and those who in each generation have proclaimed the divine word either orally or in writing;. …
  • to give the names. … of those who through love of innovation have run into the greatest errors;. …
  • to recount the misfortunes that immediately came upon the whole Jewish nation in consequence of their plots against our Savior;
  • and to record the ways and the times in which the divine word has been attacked by the nations and to describe the character of those who at various periods have contended for it in the face of blood and tortures, as well as the confessions that have been made in our own days, and finally the gracious and kindly succor that our Savior has afforded them all.

Eusebius later added a seventh interest: the canon of New Testament Scripture. Athanasius’ definitive list of books stems from Eusebius.

He begins his Church History by describing the divine nature of the pre-existent Christ and the “scattering of the seeds of true religion” among human beings from the beginning of time. Many people throughout history rejected this divine teaching, but it was always available. This point was crucial to Eusebius because it answered a significant question from pagans: If Christianity is the only true religion, why was it so late in coming to the world?

Furthermore, the affirmation that Christianity began at Creation was central to Eusebius’s theology of history. To bolster his claim that God’s plan reached its climax in Christ, he had to trace that plan back through all time. On this basis, he could show how God continued to work through the church as well.

Eusebius wrote the History for ordinary Christians and interested non-Christians. This broad audience was not interested in doctrinal questions, so Eusebius gives such questions little attention. Instead, he concentrates on what would have popular, and enduring, appeal: sensational tales of martyrdom, juicy tidbits about famous leaders, lively quotations, and personal reflections.

Eusebius’ history has, in retrospect, many defects, both in style and method. For instance, he assumes, inaccurately, that the early church looked just like the church he knew. He displayed no sense of doctrinal or institutional development, especially in the Latin West, a region about which he knew little.

Eusebius can also be accused of whitewashing what he did know. As he introduced accounts of persecution in his day, he stated that he was including only what would be profitable:

We shall not mention those who were shaken by the persecution nor those who in everything pertaining to salvation were shipwrecked. … But we shall introduce into this history in general only those events which may be useful first to ourselves and afterwards to posterity (Church History 8.2.3).

Other complaints about Eusebius include his inattention to coherent narrative, his occasionally careless use of sources, and of course his belief that Christianity and the Roman state belonged together. But this negative picture can be exaggerated, and modern readers should be grateful that Eusebius collected material that would otherwise be lost.

Whatever may be said about Eusebius’s inability to organize his materials, he nonetheless had keen insight into themes that would have abiding interest for future generations. Who can forget the scenes recorded by Eusebius?

  • The apostle John fleeing the bathhouse upon finding Cerinthus, “the enemy of the truth,” there.
  • Justin Martyr in a philosopher’s cloak preaching the Word of God.
  • Polycarp confessing his faith before the governor: “Eighty-six years I have served Christ, and he has done me no wrong; how can I blaspheme my king who saved me?”
  • Blandina, the slave girl, hanging on a stake as if on a cross, but inspiring her fellow martyrs, “who saw the One who was crucified in the form of their sister.”
  • Origen’s father admiring his sleeping boy as one in whom the divine Spirit was enshrined.

Eusebius did not perfect the discipline of church history, but he took the crucial first step of considering world events from a Christian perspective. It is a tribute to his accomplishment that scholars continued his pursuit—though none attempted to rewrite what he had written for centuries.

More

The Wikipedia page is extensive [link]

Catholic criticisms and congratulations regarding Church History [link]

Podcast: Eusebius: History from the Wrong Side of History | Way of the Fathers with Mike Aquilina:

What do we do with this?

Many people know Eusebius as the “Father of Church History.” But did he write history? Because of his style of weaving short entries into a broader scheme he has been called one of the fathers of  journalism. Others call him a propagandist – he did call Emperor Constantine “most beloved by God,” and described the fourth-century church as being brought to “a state of uniform harmony.” However we evaluate his achievements, his works remain foundational for our knowledge of the church in its first three centuries. And this foundation stands firm despite noticeable cracks.

Have you ever written your own personal history of faith in your day? It would be interesting to see who and what influenced you, what heresies you faced, what nonsense in the church you had to endure, even your persecutions! Give it a try and see how God blesses it.

Bede — May 26

Europe, Forerunners (33-1226),
The Venerable Bede writing. Detail from a 12th century codex

Bible connection

All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. — Hebrews 11:13

All about the Venerable Bede (c. 673-735)

“The Venerable Bede” died on this day in 735. He is widely recognized as one of the greatest Anglo-Saxon scholars. When he was seven, Bede was sent to Benedict Biscop at the monastery of St. Peter at Wearmouth, Northumbria, for his education; when he was nine he moved a short distance to the sister house in Jarrow, where he would live out the rest of his days. Bede became a deacon at age 19 and priest at 30.

Page from Ecclesiastical History

Eventually, Bede was the first native of the British Isles to be named by the Pope as Doctor of the Church (in 1899). His most famous work, which is a key source for understanding early British history and the arrival of Christianity, is Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum or The Ecclesiastical History of the English People which was completed in 731 AD. It is the first work of history in which the AD system of dating is used.

Much of Bede’s observations and writings were focused on the natural world. His scholarship is notably advanced because of his ability to weave together fragments into coherent works with very limited resources.

Here is a bit from his most famous work:

The present life of man, O king, seems to me, in comparison of that time which is unknown to us, like to the swift flight of a sparrow through the room wherein you sit at supper in winter, with your commanders and ministers, and a good fire in the midst, whilst the storms of rain and snow prevail abroad; the sparrow, I say, flying in at one door, and immediately out at another, whilst he is within, is safe from the wintry storm; but after a short space of fair weather, he immediately vanishes out of your sight, into the dark winter from which he had emerged. So this life of man appears for a short space, but of what went before, or what is to follow, we are utterly ignorant. If, therefore, this new doctrine contains something more certain, it seems justly to deserve to be followed.

Try on this quote:

Better a stupid and unlettered brother who, working the good things he knows, merits life in Heaven than one who though being distinguished for his learning in the Scriptures, or even holding the place of a doctor, lacks the bread of love.

This is also a good image:

Jesus opened the tavern of heaven and poured out the wine of the Holy Ghost.

Bede’s work was so famous and respected that it earned him an honorific addition to his name. The title Venerabilis [Venerable] was associated with the name of Bede within two generations after his death. There is no proof for the legend that an unskilled monk composing an epitaph on Bede was at a loss to complete the line: Hac sunt in fossa Bedae . . . . ossa (in this grave are Bede…bones) and then found the next morning that angels had filled the gap with the word venerabilis [venerable]. The title is used by Alcuin (a Northumbrian teacher who became the lead scholar in Charlemagne’s court), Amalarius of Metz and Paul the Deacon within years of his death. The important Council of Aachen in 835 describes him as venerabilis [venerable] et modernis temporibus doctor admirabilis Beda [venerable and admirable doctor of our time, Bede].

More 

Want to read Bede’s groundbreaking book? [link]

More from English people who love him? [link] 

Additions from Orthodox Wiki: [link]

This Channel 4 story takes less than 2 minutes:

What do we do with this?

Bede was a writer and researcher. He was a preserver of good things and true things. If you are a writer, too, take your art seriously and tell the truth. Maybe you should write a little history of your church, your team, or of a person you admire. Or write your spiritual autobiography! Bede’s work has made a difference for 1300 years!

Why highlight Anglo-Saxon church history? The main reasons: it is inspiring and influences U.S. Christianity. The history of how other religions develop is interesting, too. If you would like to know about how first-century Buddhist texts recently discovered in Afghanistan have impacted how present day Buddhists see their history, here is an article [link]. There are the “Bedes” of Buddhism to appreciate.  For instance, someone collected the earliest record of Buddhist oral tradition: the Pāli Canon, but they are unknown. We have a name associated with other foundational collections. The Edicts of Ashoka from the 3rd century B.C., especially those mentioning the Buddha’s birthplace and Dhamma texts, provide the earliest written evidence of Buddhism. The Edicts are a collection of more than thirty inscriptions on pillars, boulders, and cave walls, made by Emperor Ashoka of the Mauryan Empire during his reign, from 268 BCE to 232 BCE. They were dispersed throughout the areas of modern-day India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Afghanistan and Pakistan.  

Athanasius — May 2

Africa, Forerunners (33-1226)
Athanasius of Alexandria icon

Bible connection

See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have come to fullness in him, who is the head of every ruler and authority. In him also you were circumcised with a spiritual circumcision, by putting off the body of the flesh in the circumcision of Christ; when you were buried with him in baptism, you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. And when you were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses, erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it. — Colossians 2:8-15

All about Athanasius of Alexandria (c. 296 – c. 373)

“Those who maintain ‘There was a time when the Son was not’
rob God of his Word, like plunderers.”

Athanasius of Alexandria became the 20th bishop of Alexandria. His on-again-off-again service in that role spanned 45 years. Seventeen of those years were served in exile, when four different Roman emperors ordered his replacement. Athanasius was a Christian theologian, a Church Father, the chief defender of Trinitarianism against Arianism, and a noted Egyptian leader of the fourth century.

Conflict with Arius and Arianism, as well as successive Roman emperors, shaped Athanasius’ career. At the age of 27, he took a leading role against the Arians as a deacon and assistant to Bishop Alexander of Alexandria during the First Council of Nicaea. Roman emperor Constantine the Great convened the council to address the Arian position that the Son of God, Jesus of Nazareth, is of a distinct substance from the Father.

Three years after that council, Athanasius succeeded his mentor as archbishop of Alexandria. In addition to the conflict with the Arians, he struggled against the Emperors Constantine, Constantius II, Julian the Apostate and Valens. He was known by his admirers as Athanasius Contra Mundum (Latin for Athanasius Against the World). “Black Dwarf” was the tag his enemies gave him — and the short, dark-skinned, Egyptian bishop had plenty of enemies. In the end, his theological enemies were “exiled” from orthodoxy, and it is Athanasius’ writings that shaped the future of the church. Within a few years after his death, Gregory of Nazianzus called him the “Pillar of the Church.”

Most his enemies were earned by his stubborn insistence that Arianism, the reigning “orthodoxy” of the day, was in fact a heresy. The dispute began when Athanasius was the chief deacon in Alexandria. While his mentor, Alexander preached with philosophical exactitude on the Trinity, Arius, a presbyter from Libya announced, “If the Father begat the Son, then he who was begotten had a beginning in existence, and from this it follows there was a time when the Son was not.” The argument caught on, but Alexander and Athanasius fought against Arius, arguing that it denied the Trinity. Christ is not of a like substance to God, they argued, but of the same substance.

To Athanasius this was not splitting theological hairs. Salvation was at issue. Only one who was fully human could atone for human sin; only one who was fully divine could have the power to save us. To Athanasius, the logic of New Testament doctrine of salvation assumed the dual nature of Christ.  Alexander’s encyclical letter, signed by Athanasius (and possibly written by him), attacked the consequences of the Arian heresy. If it were true:

“The Son [then,] is a creature and a work; neither is he like in essence to the Father; neither is he the true and natural Word of the Father; neither is he his true wisdom; but he is one of the things made and created and is called the Word and Wisdom by an abuse of terms… Wherefore he is by nature subject to change and variation, as are all rational creatures.”

The controversy spread, and all over the empire, Christians could be heard singing a catchy tune that championed the Arian view: “There was a time when the Son was not,” which only deepened the conflict. Word of the dispute made it to the newly converted Emperor Constantine the Great, who was more concerned with seeing church unity than theological truth. To settle the matter, he called a council of bishops. “Division in the church is worse than war,” he told them.

Of the 1,800 bishops invited to Nicaea, about 300 came—and argued, fought, and eventually fleshed out an early version of the Nicene Creed. The council, led by Alexander, condemned Arius as a heretic, exiled him, and made it a capital offense to possess his writings. Constantine was pleased that peace had been restored to the church. Athanasius, whose treatise On the Incarnation laid the foundation for the orthodox party at Nicaea, was hailed as “the noble champion of Christ.”

But the Arian heresy did not die out. Within a few months, supporters of Arius talked Constantine into ending Arius’ exile. With a few private additions, Arius even signed the Nicene Creed, and the emperor ordered Athanasius, who had recently succeeded Alexander as bishop, to restore the heretic to fellowship. When Athanasius refused, his enemies spread false charges against him. He was accused of murder, illegal taxation, sorcery, and treason—the last of which led Constantine to exile him to Trier, now a German city near Luxembourg.

Constantine died two years later, and Athanasius returned to Alexandria. But in his absence, Arianism had gained the upper hand. Now church leaders were against him, and they banished him again. Athanasius fled to Pope Julius I in Rome. He returned in 346, but in the mercurial politics of the day, was banished three more times before he came home to stay in 366. By then he was about 70 years old.

While in exile, Athanasius spent most of his time writing, mostly to defend orthodoxy, but he took on pagan and Jewish opposition as well. One of his most lasting contributions is his Life of St. Ant[h]ony, which helped to shape the Christian ideal of monasticism. The book is filled with tales of Antony’s encounters with the devil, yet Athanasius wrote, “Do not be incredulous about what you hear of him… Consider, rather that from them only a few of his feats have been learned.” In fact, the bishop knew the monk personally, and his  biography is one of the most historically reliable. It became an early “bestseller” and made a deep impression on many people, even helping lead pagans to conversion — Augustine of Hippo is the most famous example.

During Athanasius’s first year permanently back in Alexandria, he sent his annual letter to the churches in his diocese, called a festal letter. Such letters were used to fix the dates of festivals such as Lent and Easter, and to discuss matters of general interest. In this letter, Athanasius listed what he believed were the books that should constitute the New Testament: “In these [27 writings] alone the teaching of godliness is proclaimed,” he wrote. “No one may add to them, and nothing may be taken away from them.” Though other such lists had been and would still be proposed, it is Athanasius’ list that the church eventually adopted, and the writings he listed make up the New Testament.

Quotes:

  • Christians, instead of arming themselves with swords, extend their hands in prayer.
  • The holy and inspired Scriptures are sufficient of themselves for the preaching of the truth.
  • Jesus became what we are that he might make us what he is.
  • You cannot put straight in others what is warped in yourself.
  • Similarly, anyone who wishes to understand the mind of the sacred writers must first cleanse his own life, and approach the saints by copying their deeds.
  • One cannot see all the waves with one’s eyes, for when one tries to do so those that are following on baffle one’s senses. Even so, when one wants to take in all the achievements of Christ in the body, one cannot do so, even by reckoning them up, for the things that transcend one’s thought are always more than those one thinks that one has grasped.
    As we cannot speak adequately about even a part of His work, therefore, it will be better for us not to speak about it as a whole. So we will mention but one thing more, and then leave the whole for you to marvel at. For, indeed, everything about it is marvelous, and wherever a man turns his gaze he sees the Godhead of the Word and is smitten with awe.
  • The presence and love of the Word had called them into being; inevitably, therefore when they lost the knowledge of God, they lost existence with it; for it is God alone Who exists, evil is non-being, the negation and antithesis of good.
  • For of what use is existence to the creature if it cannot know its Maker?
  • The Greek philosophers have compiled many works with persuasiveness and much skill in words; but what fruit have they to show for this such as has the cross of Christ? Their wise thoughts were persuasive enough until they died.
  • Even on the cross he did not hide himself from sight; rather, he made all creation witness to the presence of its Maker.

More

Development of New Testament canon

The Incarnation from the Coptics.

Roman Catholic biography 

His letter regarding the death of Arius. [link]

Controversy about “deification”

What do we do with this?

Athanasius is also known as the “father of orthodoxy.” He helped refine doctrines that set the baseline for true faith and set the final parameters on the New Testament. He was fighting for the church’s life in a time when the government wanted to exploit it and society was absorbing it according to its own image. Nothing is new under the sun.

What do you think the Lord would like you to fight for in this era? What truth is threatened? What necessity is being watered down or lost? If we want to leave a coherent faith for the next generation, what  should we do?

Constantine thought Arius should be reinstated after he “signed” the Nicene Creed. But Athanasius was not ready to love his enemy if the enemy was trying to wiggle his way back into orthodoxy with a few caveats. Even though Athanasius holds the line, Arianism does not die out. It becomes the main basis for the Christianity of the “East.”  Some form of it is what Persians, Mongols and Chinese adopt. (And it is a central belief for Jehovah’s Witnesses). From the 4th century on, protecting the metaphysics of God is an occupation that divides the church and changes the character of Christian faith, now organized under political goals and power struggles. You probably have an idea of what is “true” in general and what is true about Jesus. Can you summarize it? Dare you investigate it?

Anselm — April 21

Europe, Forerunners (33-1226)

Bible connection

Read Psalm 14

The fool says in his heart,
    “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, their deeds are vile;
    there is no one who does good.
The Lord looks down from heaven
    on all humankind
to see if there are any who understand,
    any who seek God.
All have turned away, all have become corrupt;
    there is no one who does good,
    not even one.
Do all these evildoers know nothing?
The illuminated beginning of an 11th-century manuscript of the Monologion.

All about Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109)

Anselm was a Benedictine monk, Christian philosopher, and scholar who is recognized for many intellectual accomplishments, including his application of reason for exploring the mysteries of faith and for his definition of theology as “faith seeking understanding.”

The brilliance of Anselm’s thinking and writing about the nature of faith and of God has intrigued and influenced scholars since the Middle Ages. His highly respected work, Monologium, rationalizes a proof of God’s existence. His Proslogium, advances the idea that God exists according to the human notion of a perfect being in whom nothing is lacking. Since they were first written, both works have been studied and praised by many of the world’s greatest theologians and philosophers. In our set of explanations, we recognize Anselm’s contribution to the meaning of the atonement with his work Cur Deus Homo (Why the God-Man?). In it he conceptualizes the common telling of story of Christ’s death  and resurrection as a “satisfaction theory” in the new logic of his day (which he is instrumental in inventing). His work also reflects the feudal zeitgeist of his day, which is interesting in itself.  (Video explanation).

Anselmo was born near Aosta in Italy in 1033. He began his education under the tutelage of the monks of a local Benedictine monastery. After his mother died, Anselm observed a period of mourning and then traveled throughout Europe. At that time, the spiritual and intellectual reputation of the monk Lanfranc, who belonged to the monastery of Bec in Normandy, was widespread. Anselm was drawn to Lanfranc, and in 1060 he attached himself to Lanfranc’s abbey. The community soon recognized Anselm’s unique abilities and assigned him to teach in the abbey school. He was made prior of the monastery in 1063 when he was only 30 years old.

It was during his days at Bec that Anselm composed his innovative works on the existence and nature of God. It was really only out of a sense of obligation and submission to the will of the community that he undertook the duties and burdens of administration at all.

William the II demands Anselm take the Archbishop of Canterbury crozier from his sickbed. By James William Edmund Doyle (1864)

His election to the position of abbot of the community in 1078 speaks to the love and regard in which he was held by his community members. But Bec was not to be the end of his journey. In 1093 he was summoned to England to become the Archbishop of Canterbury, succeeding his master and spiritual director, Lanfranc. Anselm’s years at Canterbury were rife with political controversy. He showed great courage in disputing with William II and Henry I in regard to ecclesiastical abuses visited upon the church by those kings. Twice he was banished while making appeals in Rome. Twice he returned to Canterbury, riding his reputation, even fame, as an extraordinary theologian, negotiator, and statesman who added luster and authority to the cause of the Church and also gratified the monarchs who saw him as another jewel in their crown, if also a pesky opponent.

Throughout his years, Anselm maintained a strong allegiance to his monastic lifestyle and to his intellectual pursuits. He composed his philosophical and theological treatises, as well as a series of beautiful prayers and meditations. People saved the letters they got from him and they are also inspirational.

Anselm held the position of archbishop until his death in 1109. A biography by his contemporary Eadmer provides many insights into the life of this remarkably saintly and scholarly man.

Anselm quotes:

From the Preface to the Proslogion:

I have written the little work that follows… in the role of one who strives to raise his mind to the contemplation of God and one who seeks to understand what he believes. [More from Rod on this]

I acknowledge, Lord, and I give thanks that you have created your image in me, so that I may remember you, think of you, love you. But this image is so obliterated and worn away by wickedness, it is so obscured by the smoke of sins, that it cannot do what it was created to do, unless you renew and reform it. I am not attempting, O Lord, to penetrate your loftiness, for I cannot begin to match my understanding with it, but I desire in some measure to understand your truth, which my heart believes and loves. For I do not seek to understand in order that I may believe, but I believe in order to understand. For this too I believe, that “unless I believe, I shall not understand.” (Isa. 7:9)

A prayer of Anselm

My God,
I pray that I may so know you and love you
that I may rejoice in you.
And if I may not do so fully in this life
let me go steadily on
to the day when I come to that fullness …
Let me receive
That which you promised through your truth,
that my joy may be full.

A song of Anselm

Jesus, as a mother you gather your people to you:
You are gentle with us as a mother with her children;
Often you weep over our sins and our pride:
tenderly you draw us from hatred and judgement.
You comfort us in sorrow and bind up our wounds:
in sickness you nurse us, and with pure milk you feed us.
Jesus, by your dying we are born to new life:
by your anguish and labor we come forth in joy.
Despair turns to hope through your sweet goodness:
through your gentleness we find comfort in fear.
Your warmth gives life to the dead:
your touch makes sinners righteous.
Lord Jesus, in your mercy heal us:
in your love and tenderness remake us.
In your compassion bring grace and forgiveness:
for the beauty of heaven may your love prepare us.

More

Here is another more detailed bio. [link]

A lecture that tells you everything [link]

You can read the Monologium and Proslogium online. [link]

Here is a nice translation of Cur Deus Homo online. [link]

What do we do with this?

Anselm did administrative work because he was asked to do it. He would have preferred meditating, studying, writing and mentoring to having conflicts with the kings of England. Doing what he did not prefer did not diminish his influence, however. Living with an attitude of obedience grates on most people we know. We don’t always know what we want, but it is often not what we are supposed to be doing! How are you working that out?

New ways of thinking and organizing society were maturing in Anselm’s day, he moved the ball along like a first-round draft pick. The English king recruited him for his premier church. You may not appreciate all he did, but you have to admire how he was always “in the game.” Things are moving new directions in our era too. How should we influence them? Are you still in the action?

Rest in the Lord for a moment and settle down. What is the best thing you can do today despite distracting or detracting circumstances? For now, you can pray and worship, that is something good we can do no matter who is trying to get us to do something  else.

Joachim of Fiore – March 30

Europe, Forerunners (33-1226)
Joachim of Flora, in a 15th-century woodcut

Bible connection

Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth—to every nation, tribe, language and people.  He said in a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water.”

A second angel followed and said, “‘Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great,’ which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries.”

A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives its mark on their forehead or on their hand, they, too, will drink the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. They will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb.  And the smoke of their torment will rise for ever and ever. There will be no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, or for anyone who receives the mark of its name.” This calls for patient endurance on the part of the people of God who keep his commands and remain faithful to Jesus.

Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.”

“Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.” — Revelation 14:6-13

All about Joachim of Fiore (1135-1202)

For most Christians, the New Testament book of Revelation has served as the go-to text for all things eschatological (the study of the end times). This was especially true of Europe in the Middle Ages. The leading authority on the matter was Joachim of Fiore, the legal secretary (notary), monk, abbot, hermit, theologian and prophet from Calabria, the toe of the boot in Southern Italy.

Joachim was a household name in his day for his alleged prophetic powers. He wrote many books, but his most influential was the Expositio in Apocalipsim (Exposition of the Book of Revelation), finished around 1196–1199. In this work he introduces his famous tripartite division of history into the Ages (each a “status”) of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. He taught the fruition of the Age of the Holy Spirit was at hand — an era in which peace and love would prevail, and God’s secrets would finally be revealed to the world.

While Joachim was being educated to follow in his father’s footsteps as a notary in the Norman Kingdom of Naples, he took a trip to the Holy Land and was never the same. Like so many people who made the pilgrimage, he had a deep, spiritual experience that changed his course.

After returning to Italy, he decided to live in a cave, located near Mount Etna in Sicily. He lived as a hermit there for some time, before transferring to a Cistercian monastery. The Cistercians were born out of a restoration movement within the Benedictine observance. In 1098 a group of reformers founded an abbey at Cîteaux, near Dijon, France. The goal was to revert to what they considered the original spirit of St. Benedict’s Rule in three main ways: return to self-sufficiency, simplicity and separation from the world.

Joachim chose the Cistercians to use monastic contemplation as a way to experience God directly. His choice also highlights his enthusiasm for the spiritual revival taking place in Europe at the time, which centered on a widespread preoccupation with the life of the Apostles. From the year 1000, more and more people began to reject what they saw as the degeneration of Christian life which had occurred in the centuries before them and sought to return to the example set by Christ and his first followers. Primarily, that meant living in poverty (as in Mark 6: 4-13), engaging in the communal sharing of goods (as in Acts 2:44-47), and itinerant preaching (as in Luke 10:1-24). Francis of Assisi may be the best known convert.

After spending time as a Cistercian monk, Fiore took up the life of a wandering preacher. In 1171, he was elected as the abbot of another Cistercian monastery in Corazzo, back home in Calabria. He was now in his late thirties. It was during this time he began to write (17 works are extant!).

Joachim was particularly interested in discovering the hidden meanings behind scripture. For Fiore and his contemporaries, the Bible was not merely a collection of works, to be read in light of their respective historical contexts. Rather, it was one coherent and unified Word of God. Accordingly, many believed it was encoded with theological truths, some of which could be discovered through careful study. Joachim’s discoveries often came via encounters with God’s Spirit.

Joachim illustrates his theory of the three overlapping eras of history.

Central to his findings was the correspondence between the Old and New Testaments. Simply put, Fiore believed the events recorded in the Old Testament prefigured those of the New, which in turn, predicted the future. This was linked to Joachim’s famous tripartite division of history, with each epoch corresponding to a person of the Trinity. Thus, the Age (status) of the Father began with Adam, came to fruition with Abraham and ended with Christ, while the status of the Son began with King Uzziah of Judah, came to fruition with Zechariah—John the Baptist’s father—and was about to end in Joachim’s own time.

The last point accounts for the popularity of Fiore’s prophetic message. According to Joachim, the Age of the Holy Spirit, believed to have begun with Saint Benedict of Nursia, was soon to be fulfilled. In fact, this would occur in the year 1260 — and people needed to prepare. Why 1260? Revelation 12:1-6 reads: “A great portent appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun … and (she) fled into the wilderness … so that there she can be nourished for one thousand two hundred sixty days.” It was that simple.

According to Fiore, in 1260 the Age of the Holy Spirit would fully unfold, ushering in a new world ruled by perfect, divine Love. There would be no more need for laws. Freedom, tolerance and peace would prevail. Life would be “without scandal, without worry or terror, since God shall bless it and He shall sanctify it.” At this time, the Gospel would become subordinate to a greater, “eternal gospel” (Revelation 14:6). Indeed, for Joachim, Jesus’s crucifixion was no longer the most important event in history. It was awesomely meaningful, for sure. But something else was coming. Something greater than even Christ himself. And that was the Holy Spirit, who would bestow on humankind a perfect and direct knowledge of God.

A 1573 fresco depicting Gioacchino da Fiore, in the Cathedral of Santa Severina, Calabria, Italy

Joachim became dissatisfied with his position as abbot, and received permission from the pope to once again become a hermit. In 1189, he built a hermitage (today, known as San Giovanni in Fiore Abbey). Since he had a number of disciples, it turned into an entire community of hermits. The strict regime that he set up for them was approved by Pope Celestine III in 1196, thereby creating the Florensian Order. He died in 1202. His remains were moved to San Giovanni in Fiore in 1226. His tomb is still visited there.

His followers continued and were called “Joachimites.” Many belonged to the new Franciscan Order. Some friars came to believe they had a special role to usher in the Age of the Holy Spirit, which  was supposed to bring an end to the Church in its entirety. The ecclesiastical establishment found these ideas quite threatening. As time went on, Joachim’s prophecies came under greater scrutiny by the authorities. In 1263, Joachim’s writings (not the man himself) were officially declared heretical.

The influence of Fiore’s ideas lived on and can be seen to this day. The Third Reich and Marxism have been called versions of his “new age” teachings, and some see him as a foretaste of the “age of Aquarius” and other “new age” ideas.

More

A Catholic vlogger under the title Sensus Fidelium complains that Vatican II falls into the category of Joachimite excesses beginning in the 20th Century, quoting Pope John the XXIII calling for a new Pentecost.

Nice 10-minute comparison of Augustine’s and Fiore’s view of history:

An intriguing AI-generated bio from 2023 [link]

Details about the Florensian Abbey [link]

If you want to know everything, this dissertation should get you there.  [link]

What do we do with this?

Joachim had an international reputation in the late 12th century. He functioned as an “apocalyptic advisor” to a number of the popes of the 1180s and the 1190s. Despite living on a lonely mountaintop in his monastery in Calabria, the prophet’s fame had spread very wide. So it shouldn’t surprise us that King Richard the Lion Hearted, when he’s on his way to the Third Crusade and he has to spend the winter in Sicily (because you can’t sail during the winter on the Mediterranean), stops in Messina to asks for Joachim’s prophetic advice about what will happen. There are accounts of Joachim meeting with the king in the winter of 1190-1191. Richard, like any medieval figure, believed in prophetic visions which could provide guidance as to what was to come. One of the accounts says Joachim predicted a victory for Richard — and we know Richard achieved at best a kind of Pyrrhic victory. Consider your own experience with prophets. Do you despise them?

Scholars have traced how Joachim de Fiore’s influence has continued to impact Eurocentric thinking [see Paul Ziolo]. Our present Speaker of the House in the U.S. has been focused on the dawning of the Age to Come his entire life. [Rod’s post about this]. Ask Jesus how important his teaching about this is.

Patrick of Ireland — March 17

Europe, Forerunners (33-1226)

 

Bible connection

Read Acts 2:14-24 

What you see was predicted long ago by the prophet Joel:
‘In the last days,’ God says,
‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy.
Your young men will see visions,
and your old men will dream dreams.
In those days I will pour out my Spirit
even on my servants—men and women alike—
and they will prophesy.

All about Patrick of Ireland (c.395-c.492)

Because Patrick lived so long ago some of his life remains a mystery to us. For instance, his death is believed to have been on this day in about 492, but the date is controversial.

We do know he was born into a wealthy family in Britain, to a father who was a Christian deacon. We do not have evidence about Patrick being particularly faithful himself as a child.

When he was sixteen, Patrick was captured by a group of Irish raiders and taken back to Ireland as a slave where he remained for the next six years. He worked as a shepherd, living an isolated life, and turned to his family’s faith during this period, becoming very devout. After six years in slavery, he escaped. According to his writings, he ran away after God spoke to him through a dream. Once he was home, he had another dream and an angel told him to go back to Ireland and tell his captors the good news of Jesus.

The Muiredach Cross at Monasterboice in Co. Louth

At this point Patrick began religious studies that lasted fifteen years. Once he was ordained as a priest, he returned to Ireland. Since he was familiar with the language and the culture, Patrick built traditions from Ireland into his lessons about Jesus. He chose not to attack Irish beliefs, but to incorporate certain practices and demonstrate how they were fulfilled in Christ. That’s why he superimposed a sun, a powerful Irish symbol of worship, on the cross to create the Celtic cross. He famously used the three-leaved shamrock to explain the concept of the trinity. Patrick had spectacular success in converting the Irish and a body of stories developed around him and his successful evangelism tactics for centuries following his life.

We have sometimes incorporated lighting a “fire of resistance” into our celebration of Patrick because of this story. It is told that Patrick came to the Hill of Slane in County Meath in an early attempt to convert pagan Ireland to Christianity. On the eve of the Christian feast of Easter in 433, which coincided with the Druid feast of Bealtine (Beal’s fire) and the Spring Equinox, Patrick defiantly lit a bonfire on the Hill of Slane. By doing so, he violated a decree (and an ancient tradition) that no fire should be lit in the vicinity when the great festival fire of Bealtine blazed at the royal seat of power on the nearby Hill of Tara, easily visible from Slane.

The lighting of a fire may seem trivial, but at the time it was equivalent to declaring war on the Druid religious leaders and challenging the power of the High King of Ireland. That small act of starting a fire was a turning point in Patrick’s life and in the history of Ireland.

We remember the courage and love Patrick showed when he returned to those who had stolen his youth, and became their servant, bringing the revelation of Jesus to the Irish people. His life is a testament to listening to God, following dreams, and courageously giving witness to what one receives from the Holy Spirit.

More

Read Patrick’s Confession online!

There are interesting translations of Patrick’s famous prayer: Breastplate.

Here’s a nice little biography suitable for kids, too: link

Patrick’s miracles are recounted by a chatty writer for the Jesuits.

What do we do with this?

Light a fire! Where is your faith being run over or where is it nonexistent? That is a good place to light a fire in some way. You may not be called to be as dramatic as Patrick (but maybe you are!). But what can you do to give people a chance to know Jesus and escape what enslaves them?

Celtic Christianity [a guide from the Northumbria Community] is good at taking individuals seriously while still appreciating how we are all tied into the gift of life from God. Try the “Breastplate” prayer above and see if it helps calm your anxiety and increase your sense of being solid in your own place in Creation and in Eternity.  If its old language does not feel right in your mouth, rewrite it in a way that does. What might you say as your waking prayer each day? When you  are walking into a anxiety-provoking situation, what would you like to remember?

Perpetua and Felicitas — March 7

Africa, Forerunners (33-1226),
Image
Icon by Br Robert Lentz OFM. Click to view Trinity Stores

Bible connection

When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slaughtered for the word of God and for the testimony they had given;  they cried out with a loud voice, “Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long will it be before you judge and avenge our blood on the inhabitants of the earth?”  They were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number would be complete both of their fellow servants and of their brothers and sisters, who were soon to be killed as they themselves had been killed. — Revelation 6:9-11

All about Perpetua (c. 182-c.203) and Felicitas 

We have little idea what brought Perpetua to faith in Christ, or how long she had been a Christian, or how she lived her Christian life. Thanks to her diary, and that of another prisoner, we have some idea of her last days—an ordeal that so impressed the famous Augustine that he preached four sermons about her death.

Perpetua was a Christian noblewoman who, at the turn of the third century, lived with her husband, her son, and her slave, Felicitas, in Carthage (the ruins are a suburb of Tunis, today). At this time, North Africa was the center of a vibrant Christian community. Emperor Septimius Severus (father of the co-emperors in Gladiator 2) may have  believed Christianity and there is doubt about the tradition that he fomented persecution in North Africa. The hostility to Jesus followers that broke out was probably a local issue. Among the first to be arrested were five new Christians taking classes to prepare for baptism, one of whom was Perpetua.

Her father immediately came to her in prison. He was a pagan, and he saw an easy way for Perpetua to save herself. He begged her to simply deny she was a Christian:

“Father do you see this vase here?” she replied. “Could it be called by any other name than what it is?”

“No,” he replied.

“Well, neither can I be called anything other than what I am, a Christian.”

All this was recorded in her own hand and later formed into a book you can still read, that includes an account of another victim. The Passion of Saints Perpetua and Felicity (Latin: Passio sanctarum Perpetuae et Felicitatis) describes her imprisonment as a Christian in 203, completed after her death by a redactor. It is one of the oldest and most illustrative early Christian texts.

In the next days, Perpetua was moved to a better part of the prison and allowed to breast-feed her child. With her appearance before the authorities approaching, her father visited again, this time, pleading more passionately: “Have pity on my gray head. Have pity on me, your father, if I deserve to be called your father, if I have favored you above all your brothers, if I have raised you to reach this prime of your life.”

He threw himself down before her and kissed her hands. “Do not abandon me to be the reproach of men. Think of your brothers; think of your mother and your aunt; think of your child, who will not be able to live once you are gone. Give up your pride!”

Perpetua was touched but remained unshaken. She tried to comfort her father—”It will all happen in the prisoner’s dock as God wills, for you may be sure that we are not left to ourselves but are all in his power”—but he walked out of the prison dejected.

The day of the hearing arrived, Perpetua and her friends were marched before the governor, Hilarianus. Perpetua’s friends were questioned first, and each in turn admitted to being a Christian, and each in turn refused to make a sacrifice (an act of emperor worship). Then the governor turned to question Perpetua.

At that moment, her father, carrying Perpetua’s son in his arms, burst into the room. He grabbed Perpetua and pleaded, “Perform the sacrifice. Have pity on your baby!” Hilarianus, probably wishing to avoid the unpleasantness of executing a mother who still suckled a child, added, “Have pity on your father’s gray head; have pity on your infant son. Offer the sacrifice for the welfare of the emperor.”

Perpetua replied simply: “I will not.”

“Are you a Christian then?” asked the governor.

“Yes I am,” Perpetua replied.

Perpetua, Felicitas, Revocatus, Saturninus and Secundulus (Menologion of Basil II. ca. 1000 AD)

Her father interrupted again, begging her to sacrifice, but Hilarianus had heard enough: he ordered soldiers to beat him into silence. He then condemned Perpetua and her friends to die in the arena.

Perpetua, her friends, and her slave, Felicitas (who had subsequently been arrested), were dressed in belted tunics. When they entered the stadium, wild beasts and gladiators roamed the arena floor, and in the stands, crowds roared to see blood. They didn’t have to wait long.

Immediately a wild cow charged the group. Perpetua was tossed into the air and onto her back. She sat up, adjusted her ripped tunic, and walked over to help Felicitas. Then a leopard was let loose, and it wasn’t long before the tunics of the Christians were stained with blood.

The process was too slow for the impatient crowd, which began calling for death for the Christians. So Perpetua, Felicitas, and friends were lined up, and one by one, were slain by the sword.

In his book The Patient Ferment of the Early Church, Alan Kreider tries to understand how Perpetua (and othes with her) made such a big impression on many who saw her — their guard became a Jesus follower!

Perpetua’s authoritative influence lay not only in their visions; it lay in the lives that embodied the visions. … [The formation of their way of life and demeanor came] through the recitation of certain phrases that people can repeat day by day, and especially when they are in trouble. …The phrase “I am a Christian” has tremendous importance…[It connotes] an entire way of life, an entire value system, that was fundamentally contrary to the way of life embodied in the amphitheater (p. 50).

The state murders did not offend the crowd, but the way the Christians showed their alternativity impressive hundreds.

More

Docudrama: Lost Legacy Reclaimed: Perpetua  

The story told as a seven-minute episode on Dateline:

What do we do with this?

John the Revealer sees the blood of the martyrs as the seeds of the church. The willingness of Perpetua and her newly-converted friends to die rather than worship the Emperor (and the Empire complex), is the signature act that validates the possibility of faith and transformation for those dominated by Rome. Notably, their community in death transcends class. For race-dominated, Eurocentric Christians, it is noteworthy to consider that they were Africans.

Is martyrdom dead? Is your Christianity all locked within your personal identity? Does it intersect with the Empire in which you live? Have you already recanted when asked to worship the “emperor?” These young women ask us important questions with their courage, faith and deaths.

John Cassian – February 28

Europe, Forerunners (33-1226)

John Cassian

Bible connection

Read 2 Corinthians 6:17-7:3

Therefore, “Come out from them
and be separate,
says the Lord.
Touch no unclean thing,
and I will receive you.”

And, “I will be a Father to you,
and you will be my sons and daughters,
says the Lord Almighty.”

Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.

All about John Cassian (c. 360-c.435)

John Cassian taught: “God can be sensed when we gaze with trembling hearts at that power of his which controls, guides, and rules everything, when we contemplate his immense knowledge and his knowing look which the secrets of the heart cannot evade.”

His writings reflect his adventurous, radical, ever-seeking life. He was born in the Danube Delta in what is now Dobrogea, Romania, in about 360 (some sources place his birth in Gaul/Southern France). In 382 he entered a monastery in Bethlehem and after several years was granted permission, along with his friend, Germanus, to visit the Desert Fathers and Mothers in Egypt. They remained in Egypt until 399, except for a brief period when they returned to Bethlehem and were released from their vows.

After they left Egypt they went to Constantinople, where they met John Chrysostom, who ordained John Cassian as a deacon. He had to leave Constantinople in 403 when Chrysostom was exiled, eventually settling close to what is now Marseilles, France, where he was ordained a priest and founded two monasteries, one for women and one for men.

John’s most notable works are the Institutes, which detail how to live the monastic life, Egypt-style, and the Conferences, which provide details of conversations between John and Germanus and the Desert Fathers and Mothers. These writings have been very  influential from his lifetime until the present.

Cassian also waded into the big controversies of his day. He ably warned against some of the excesses in Augustine of Hippo’s theology when Augustine defamed Pelagius, whose writings Cassian also found extreme, in parts. He also defended the nature of Christ against Nestorius. John Cassian died peacefully in about 435.

John Cassian, like many during his time, was seeking to deepen his relationship with God and to escape a corrupting culture. He tried to balance the tension between pursuing an individual purity, loving God in solitude where distractions were limited, as the Desert Fathers and Mothers taught him, with living in a community with like-minded companions who could guide one’s journey. His life is a testament to seeking holiness individually and to loving God and others in community.

A quote from Conference Nine:

We need to be especially careful to follow the gospel precept which instructs us to go into our room and to shut the door so that we may pray to our Father. And this is how we can do it.

We pray in our room whenever we withdraw our hearts completely from the tumult and the noise of our thoughts and our worries and when secretly and intimately we offer our prayers to the Lord.

We pray with the door shut when without opening our mouths and in perfect silence we offer our petitions to the One who pays no attention to words but who looks hard at our hearts.

We pray in secret when in our hearts alone and in our recollected spirits we address God and reveal our wishes only to Him and in such a way that the hostile powers themselves have no inkling of their nature. Hence we must pray in utter silence, not simply in order that our whispers and our cries do not prove both a distraction to our brothers standing nearby and a nuisance to them when they themselves are praying but also so as to ensure that the thrust of our pleading be hidden from our enemies who are especially lying in wait to attack us during our prayers. In this way we shall fulfill the command “Keep your mouth shut from the one who sleeps on your breast” (Micah 7:5).

The reason why our prayers ought to be frequent and brief is in case the enemy, who is out to trap us, should slip a distraction to us if ever we are long-drawn-out. There lies true sacrifice. “The sacrifice which God wants is a contrite heart” (Ps 51:19). This indeed is the saving oblation, the pure offering, the sacrifice of justification, the sacrifice of praise. These are the real and rich thank offerings, the fat holocausts [a sacrifice in which the offering was burned completely on an altar] offered up by contrite and humble hearts. If we offer them to God in the way and with zeal which I have mentioned we can be sure to be heard and we can sing: “Let my prayer rise up like incense before your face and my hands like the evening offering” (Ps 141:2).

More

Hit all the tabs on this site and you will know everything [link]

Cassian’s tomb in Marseille [link].   A nice description for tourists [link]

Here is a nice bio and summary of his writings from the Orthodox Church of America. Quote:

In his works, Saint John Cassian was grounded in the spiritual experience of the ascetics, and criticized the abstract reasoning of Saint Augustine (June 15). Saint John said that “grace is defended less adequately by pompous words and loquacious contention, dialectic syllogisms and the eloquence of Cicero [i.e. Augustine], than by the example of the Egyptian ascetics.” In the words of Saint John of the Ladder (March 30), “great Cassian reasons loftily and excellently.” His writings are also praised in the Rule of Saint Benedict.

What do we do with this?

John Cassian is such a scholar! His works are like a grounded theory dissertation, drawing conclusions from first hand interviews and experiences rather than rearranging biased abstractions. Let’s think about our own study. For instance, what would you do with Micah 7:5?

Put no trust in a friend;
    have no confidence in a loved one;
guard the doors of your mouth
    from her who lies in your embrace,

  • John reads it in a contemplative way, using it to speak into his personal relationship with God. He sees all the Bible as a means to that end. You might say, he starts his reading from his relationship with God, not from the words of the Bible.
  • In fact (as 21st century people see fact) Micah’s colorful analogy has little to do with relating to God or the devil, the  prophet is talking about not being able to trust your intimates when trouble comes.  John Cassian goes beyond the “facts.”
  • Do you want to think about what you are doing with these different ways to look at the same sentences? You could start with the prophet, start with yourself, or start with God, or even think of the words as having meaning in themselves—all might be profitable. How do you start your study of the Bible?

John Cassian changed the direction of his life after he met the Desert Fathers and Mothers — and he had to go to great lengths to meet them! Then he went to be a disciple of John Chrysostom! When was the last time you went to meet someone who could inspire or guide you? When did you last go to “the desert?”

Cassian applied the lessons he learned in the desert for the rest of his life. He adapted the way the Egyptian radicals formed community to the bustling world of Southern Gaul. He found it was possible for people to withdraw “into the desert” without going to the desert. As a result, monasticism developed into a force that influenced Europe for centuries, and still does. How are you doing with your own spiritual disciplines in the midst of your busy life?